The present invention relates to modular furniture systems, and more particularly, to an interchangeable modular furniture system including an underlying supporting structure having at least spaced side walls and a top wall with panel means independently and removably mounted to at least one of the walls of the underlying supporting structure, and preferably to at least the spaced side walls and top wall thereof, in order to provide an interchangeable modular furniture design system.
Most hotels and motels are constantly plagued with costly repair and/or replacement of laminated and/or wood furniture due to guest and employee abuse. Normal abuse is caused by guest and employee mishandling or mistreatment of the furniture. In this regard, it is well known that people do not take as good as care of property belonging to others, as they do with property belonging to themselves. Thus, in hotel and motel suites, furniture can be quickly and easily damaged by careless or intentional damage to laminated and/or wood furniture units.
Other less obvious abuse, which can be even more serious in some cases, is caused by water damage to such furniture. This results from two different causes. One type of water damage results from guests leaving ice containers on the furniture, which condenses and exposes the wood finishes and the laminated and wood furniture to extended dampness. Guests can cause less serious damage by water spilled from water glasses and the like. The second type of water damage, which can result in serious furniture abuse, is caused by water being directly thrown onto the furniture during carpet cleaning by employees or by simply allowing the furniture to remain on water cleaned carpets. In all of the aforementioned water damage cases, water can cause the laminated or wood furniture to expand and separate. In addition, laminated furniture uses particle board which can crack and break off, whereas with wood furniture, cracks, splitting and other unsightly conditions can occur.
There are other conditions which can cause damage to laminated and wood furniture. Changes in temperature, pressure and humidity, when shipping furniture to different geographical areas, can also cause swelling and expansion of furniture parts or components, resulting in extensive damage.
Repair of laminated or wood furniture typically takes several weeks or more, with consequent loss of use of the room during the repair period. Of course, the damaged furniture could be replaced, but replacement costs can be prohibitive.
As can be seen from the foregoing, a serious long term and unsolved problem has plagued the furniture industry, particularly the hotel and motel industry, but also in other commercial and industrial environments, as well as in residential use.
From the discussion that follows, it will be seen that the present invention answers this long standing problem of the prior art in a novel and unique solution for a variety of different types of furniture pieces including credenzas, triple dressers, triple dressers/cabinets, desks, nightstands, bars, beds and a variety of other furniture pieces, all of which will be explained in detail below.